Maidstone manager George Elokobi hailed a “fantastic” victory at Torquay on Saturday.

United moved above the Gulls into fourth place in National League South courtesy of Sam Bone’s 69th-minute strike.

They worked hard for their 1-0 win against a home side who made light of Ross Marshall’s first-half dismissal to stay in contention.

“It’s a fantastic result for our football club,” said Elokobi after Maidstone secured a fifth straight victory in league and cup.

“We treated Torquay with the utmost respect in our preparations leading up to this game by doing what we do best.

“That’s looking at scouting reports, analysing their strengths, their personnel, and it was important we fed that back to the players.

“We did that, we worked on it at the training ground but sometimes tactics go out of the window like we saw in that last 10 minutes where our players were throwing their bodies on the line making sure we put in those tackles that would limit their chances.

“It was good to see we’ve come away from a very, very good side with a clean sheet.”

Marshall was sent off for bringing down Sol Wanjau-Smith in the area with half an hour played.

Levi Amantchi’s penalty was saved as United missed an immediate chance to get their noses in front against the 10 men.

Torquay rallied but Bone fired Maidstone to another victory.

Elokobi said: “Playing against 11 was difficult in itself, however, they’ve gone down to 10 and they were very positive in their approach.

“That tells you how good Gary Johnson is at organising his team and it was down to us to nullify it in the technical area, passing information on to our team to make sure there was no complacency.

Report: Torquay 0-1 Maidstone

“We had to make sure we were effective, especially with the ball in terms of where do we have the extra players to tire them out by switching the play as quickly as we can.

“We did that and I thought we created the better chances today.”

Bone struck from the edge of the box after Harry Kyprianou’s cross was partially cleared.

He’s back in midfield after spending much of the season in central defence covering for injuries.

“His versatility is an excellent attribute to have in the football club, and it’s not just him,” said Elokobi.

“We’ve seen it with the likes of Devonte Aransibia, Harry Kyprianou, Michael Petrasso, Liam Sole, who operate in different roles, and it’s all credit to our players.

“We’ve got that dynamism in the team but it’s good to see Sam Bone getting more confident in his rightful position, I think, playing in midfield, and scoring the winner.

“We said you need to get in the right places, pick up the half-spaces, arrive in the pocket at the right time and if you fancy it, hit the ball with conviction and he’s done that.”